Patriots bring in WR, two defenders on draft’s final day

By PAUL KENYON

Sunday

Apr 28, 2013 at 7:04 AM

FOXBORO  Pass receivers and defensive players were the story of the draft for the Patriots.The Pats completed their work in the annual player selection process Saturday by another wideout, Josh Boyce,...

FOXBORO  Pass receivers and defensive players were the story of the draft for the Patriots.

The Pats completed their work in the annual player selection process Saturday by another wideout, Josh Boyce, and adding two more defenders, edge rusher Michael Buchanan of Illinois and linebacker Steve Beauharnais from their new partner school, Rutgers. That meant the Pats added five defenders, three from Rutgers, and two receivers in the last two days.

They ended up with seven picks, rather than the scheduled eight, because they traded away one of their seventh-rounders. That selection, No. 2 229, was packaged with kick returner Jeff Demps to bring in burly running back LeGarrette Blount from Tampa Bay.

While signing defensive players was an effort to improve that side of the ball, coach Bill Belichick spoke about how it was necessary to focus on the passing game since his team, as he put it, was redoing its receiving corps.

Weve gone through that with the tight ends a couple years ago. The running-back position turned over, the specialists all turned over except for Steve (Gostkowski).

The trade for Blount came about in part because of the lack of picks in the fifth and sixth rounds.

He called Blount, a good football player.

Blount is a 6-foot, 247-pound four-year veteran. He had two good years for the Bucs, picking up 1,007 yards in 2010 and 781 in 2011, but lost his job to Doug Martin this past season. He was limited to 41 carries for 151 and two touchdowns.

Blount, who is from Oregon, is as well known for his punches as his running. He punched an opponent and angrily confronted fans after a game at Boise State while playing for Oregon, which brought on a suspension. He also got into an altercation with a teammate while trying to earn a spot for Tennessee in his rookie season and was caught on film punching the teammate.

He will probably fight Brandon Bolden and Brown grad James Develin for a spot as a power back on the New England roster.

Demps is the kick returner the Patriots signed after he ran track in the Olympics. He was injured early on and spent most of the year on injured reserve. He has expressed a desire to continue to compete in track, a situation the Patriots were not happy about.

The Patriots broke a bit with their usual practice with their fourth-round pick, Boyce.

It has been the history under Belichick to go after players who have proven their skills with on-field production. Unlike some other teams that love workout wonders, New England usually does not focus nearly as much as on workouts and numbers produced at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

In the case of Boyce, though, the Pats took a guy who improved his stock with his performance at the Combine.

Boyce, a receiver from TCU, was taken by the Pats in the fourth round (102nd overall). While the team was waiting about six hours to make another pick  it did not have a choice in the fifth or sixth rounds it made a trade.

Boyce had a solid career at TCU, but was projected by most as a late-round pick until the Combine. There he was one of the stars. He ranked overall as high as any wide receiver in Indianapolis, placing among position leaders in the 40-yard dash (4.38 seconds), three-cone drill (6.68), long shuttle (11.26), bench press (22 reps) and broad jump (1011).

Buchanan, taken with the 226th pick, is viewed as a player with great potential that he has yet to fulfill.

He was regarded as potential high-round choice after an excellent junior season that included 71 tackles. However, he did not play as well this past season (his tackles dropped to 57) in part because he had lost body strength. Buchanan was involved in a fight last summer in which his jaw was broken. It was wired shut, forcing him to live for a time on a liquid diet. He lost 20 pounds and, according to several scouting reports, never fully regained the form he displayed the previous year.

The jaw situation was a bad time in my life, Buchanan said. But I learned a lot from it.

Beauharnais is a 6-1, 240-pounder who played at the same New Jersey high school as Devin McCourty. He had 77 tackles and was among the Big East leaders in tackles for losses, with 16 as a junior. He added 82 more tackles this past season, six for losses.

A major plus is his work on special teams.

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